Department of Civil Engineering
Middle East Technical University Phone: + (90) (312) 210 5489
06531, ODTU, Ankara, TURKEY e-mail : nejan [at] metu.edu.tr
RESEARCH PROJECTS
EU FP7 Marie Curie IRG
Mechanism Modelling and Forecasting of Landslide Displacements, FOLADIS
Principal Investigator
2010-2013
TUBITAK 1001 MAG 109M635
Rainfall Triggered Landslides in Unsaturated Soils
Principal Investigator
2010-2013
METU BAP
Geotechnical Characteristics and Stability of Tailings Dams
Principal Investigator
2010-2011
CURRENT GRADUATE STUDENTS
Copyright ® 2010 Nejan Huvaj Sarihan. All rights reserved
NEJAN HUVAJ SARIHAN
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
SERHAN ERGIN
M.S. Student
Research Topic: Comparison of Measured and Predicted Consolidation Settlements in Soft Ground
Accurate prediction of consolidation settlement of soft clay and silt deposits has always been a topic of interest for geotechnical engineers. The objective of this study is to investigate the use of a few different computational tools for the realistic prediction of consolidation settlement in soft ground. For the selected case histories, detailed subsoil profiles, measured settlements and pore water pressures at certain depths with time will be collected. Settlement of soft ground calculated by using different approaches will be compared with the measured values.
YASAR ZAHIT ORAL
M.S. Student
Research Topic: Deformation Behavior of a Rockfill Dam with a Clay Core
Research Topic: Deformation Behavior of a Rockfill Dam with a Clay Core
In this study, Bahçelik Dam, which is located in Kayseri Province, is investigated by means of horizontal movement due to reservoir loading and seepage inside the core and body. Two dimensional plain strain finite element analyses are carried out in order to find total stresses, displacements and pore water pressures. Calculated displacement and pore water pressures are compared to the data taken from field survey on actual dam body.
MOHAMMED AHMADIADLI
PhD Student (co-advisor Dr. Kartal Toker)
Research Topic: Mechanism of Rainfall Triggered Landslides in Unsaturated Soils
In slopes where the groundwater table is located at significant depths, and where soil exist in an unsaturated state, rainfall significantly affects the stability of the slope. At dry seasons when the rainfall is scarce, considerable amount of suction develops in the soil, and this adds to the shear strength of the soil and to the stability of the slope. Upon the seeping of the rain into the ground, the suction decreases/disappears, and depending on the level of decrease in the shear strength, instability may be observed. In this study we will investigate the seeping of rain into an unsaturated soil, propagation of the wetting front, triggering mechanisms of these landslides and the factors affecting this process, by means of the soil moisture characteristics curves of selected soils, experiments carried out in a 1.5-m-long laboratory model slope setup where artifical rainfall can be applied, and by numerical models.
EMIR SAYIT
M.S. Student
Research Topic: Geotechnical Characteristics and Stability of Tailings Dams
The objective of this study is to investigate the stability problems in tailings (i.e. mine waste) dams. Seepage and stability relations in tailings dams; the effect of the rate of increase in tailings level on the stability; use of drained and undrained shear strength; the effect of saturated and unsaturated material properties on seepage and stability; effects of temporal and spatial uncertainty and changes in material properties on the stability of tailings dams will be studied.
ARASH MAGHSOUDLOO
Ph.D. Student (M.S. 2013)
M.S. Research Topic: Nonlinearity of residual shear strength envelope in stiff clays
This study investigates the nonlinearity of the residual shear strength envelope using experimental evidence (i) from laboratory reversal direct shear tests on two different stiff clays carried out at Soil Mechanics Laboratory of Middle East Technical University, and (ii) from laboratory data collected from the published literature. To evaluate the possible importance of the nonlinearity of residual shear strength envelope for geotechnical engineering practice (1) case histories of reactivated landslides are analyzed and (2) a parametric study is carried out. The findings in this study can be useful in proper evaluation of stability of existing slopes and to propose effective remedial measures.
PREVIOUS GRADUATE STUDENTS
BORA GUNDOGDU
M.S. Student
Research Topic: Relation between pore water pressure, stability and movements in reactivated landslides
Research Topic: Relation between pore water pressure, stability and movements in reactivated landslides
For slow moving reactivated landslides in stiff clays and shales, the relation between rainfall, increase in pore water pressures, slope stability and movements will be investigated by using limit equilibrium and finite element methods. The results of this study will be helpful in establishing threshold landslide displacement rates that can be used in alert/alarm levels for early warning.
Publications:
1) Ahmadiadli, M., Huvaj, N. and Toker, K. (2012) Rainfall triggered landslides in unsaturated soils: a numerical sensitivity analysis for rainfall threshold, Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 14, EGU2012-5378, European Geosciences Union, EGU General Assembly 2012, 22-27 April 2012, Vienna, Austria (Abstract/Oral presentation)
2) Ahmadi-adli, M., Huvaj, N., Toker, N.K., and Kurkcu, M.G. (2012) Comparative study of soil water characteristic curve prediction methods, Proc. 3rd International Conference on New Developments in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, eds: Atalar, C., Çinicioğlu, F., Das, B.M., Sağlamer, A., Toğrol, E., 28-30 June 2012, Near East University, Nicosia, North Cyprus, p.559-567.
3) Ahmadi-adli, M., Huvaj, N., Toker, N.K. (2012) Rainfall triggered landslides in unsaturated soils: A numerical sensitivity analysis, Proc. 10th International Congress on Advances in Civil Engineering, 17-19 October 2012, Ankara, Turkey, (accepted, in publication).
Publications:
1) Ergin, S. ve Huvaj, N. (2012) Yumuşak Zeminlerde Düşey Drenli Konsolidasyon Oturmaları: Bir Vaka Çalışması, 5. Ulusal Geosentetikler Konferansı Bildiri Kitabı, 24-25 Mayıs 2012, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, İstanbul.
Publications:
1) Maghsoudloo, A. and Huvaj, N. (2012) Prediction of landslide movements and its relation to damage in structures, Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 14, EGU2012-1013, European Geosciences Union, EGU General Assembly 2012, 22-27 April 2012, Vienna, Austria (Abstract/Poster presentation)
2) Huvaj, N. and Maghsoudloo, A. (2013) Finite Element Modeling of Displacement Behavior of a Slow-Moving Landslide, ASCE GeoCongress 2013, San Diego, 3-6 March 2013.
Publications:
1) ...
Publications:
1) Huvaj-Sarihan, N. & Gundogdu, B."Relation between pore water pressures and movements in reactivated landslides: A case study from Turkey", Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 12, EGU2010-7238-1, European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2010, 2-7 May 2010, Vienna, Austria
2) Gundogdu, B. and Huvaj, N. 2010 "Sensitivity of slow moving landslides to changes in groundwater level", Proceedings of the Mountain Risks Conference, 24-26 November 2010, Firenze, Italy
ANIL EKiCi
Ph.D. Student (M.S. 2013)
M.S. Research Topic: THREE DIMENSIONAL FINITE ELEMENT MODELING FOR THE LATERALLY LOADED PASSIVE PILE BEHAVIOR
In this study, some of the factors affecting the slope stabilizing pile response have been investigated by means of three dimensional finite element solution using PLAXIS 3D software. Three full scale field experiments have been modeled for the verification of the proposed 3D models. It was demonstrated that PLAXIS 3D can predict successfully the measured pile deflection and force distributions. Then a parametric study was carried out to investigate some of the factors affecting the slope stabilizing pile response: (i) the effect of the pile embedment depth and (ii) the effect of pile spacing.
